Above Between 1978 and 1982, excavation of the north Lanes site at Carlisle shed vivid light on the Roman civilian settlement. Here, the team from Carlisle Archaeological Unit is lifting one of the oak base plates belonging to a 2nd century high status structure, possibly a mansio.

Reconstructing Roman Carlisle: Fort life on a shifting frontier

The Roman fort at Carlisle was founded decades before the construction of Hadrian’s Wall. How did the site’s use change as the frontier was fortified, and what can we learn about the lives of its inhabitants? John Zant reports.

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Period: Roman Britain
Location: Europe › United Kingdom › North West

Shortly after the 13th Pilgrimage to Hadrian’s Wall was completed in 2009, the results of the Carlisle Millennium Project – an important excavation undertaken in 1998-2001 by the former Carlisle Archaeological Unit (CAU) within the Roman fort – were published by Oxford Archaeology North. A decade on, just before the start of the 14th Pilgrimage, we have also published another highly significant Carlisle site, the northern Lanes, located within the large settlement that grew up outside the fort. This was excavated by CAU between 1978-1982. What have we learned about the site since then?

Military matters

Our story begins in the 1980s, when tree-ring dating of timbers in the south rampart demonstrated that the fort was founded in AD 72-73, towards the end of the Romans’ war with the Brigantes (as recorded by the historian Tacitus), and during Petillius Cerialis’ second winter as governor of Britain. It presumably formed part of an extensive network of military installations built to hold down the newly conquered territory – but what did this complex look like?

above Between 1978 and 1982, excavation of the north Lanes site at Carlisle shed vivid light on the Roman civilian settlement. Here, the team from Carlisle Archaeological Unit is lifting one of the oak base plates belonging to a 2nd-century high-status structure, possibly a mansio.
Between 1978 and 1982, excavation of the north Lanes site at Carlisle shed vivid light on the Roman civilian settlement. Here, the team from Carlisle Archaeological Unit is lifting one of the oak base plates belonging to a 2nd-century high-status structure, possibly a mansio.

A strong case can be made for reconstructing the fort as a regular square measuring 600 by 600 Roman feet (or five actus square), covering an area of approximately 3.2ha (7.9 acres). We can also reconstruct some of its internal features: the Millennium excavations uncovered a small part of the central range, including fragments of what may have been the headquarters building (principia) and the adjacent commander’s house (praetorium), as well as elements of several barrack blocks and other buildings in the southern part of the fort.

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